So, what exactly is an initial coin offering?

A rapidly growing number of companies are taking advantage of cryptocurrencies to raise massive amounts of funding through what are called initial coin offerings, or ICOs. It is not just technology companies that are taking advantage of this new form of money raising. Companies that have gone through ICOs or are planning to include those involved with real estate, finance and even the dental industry.

Interest in ICOs has accelerated this year with 148 so far, raising more than US $2.2bn.

So, how does an ICO work exactly?

At the heart of an ICO is the creation of a new “coin” or cryptocurrency that is similar to the most famous of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin. Investors that buy into the ICO buy the new coins at a particular starting price. The company keeps all of the money that is initially raised through this sale. Unlike shares, investors do not get any control or say in the running of the company. They simply hope that the price of the new cryptocurrency will increase and if successful, allows them to sell their investment at a later date.

Unlike shares, investors do not get any control or say in the running of the company

Many of the ICOs are based on the technology of ethereum using a standard called ERC20. Ethereum can encode smart contracts, which are essentially the ability to execute one or more actions automatically through software code when certain conditions are met. A simple example of this is releasing money only after a certain date.

For the ICO cryptocurrency to be worth anything and also increase in value, the currency needs to be part of the company’s business model. If the company’s business succeeds, it follows that the value of the currency will increase because there will be more demand. If demand for the currency increases, the value also increases because the supply of the currency is controlled.

Filecoin

Filecoin is a company that is creating a secure, peer-to-peer file storage service. The storage for this service is provided by anyone who has unused space in return for payments in the filecoin currency. The underlying technology that supports this service, the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS), may be able to provide a solution to the increasing problem of delivering content, especially streamed content, cheaply and efficiently.

Filecoin hasn’t started trading on any exchanges yet and the company hasn’t launched its operations. Another storage company, Storj raised $30m in May. Its coin is trading above the price at its ICO.

Author David Glance says cybercrimes associated with ICOs have grown

Another interesting model for the use of an ICO is that of dentacoin, where the coin is used as a form of dental insurance that allows for preventative dental treatment among a network of participating dentists. Dental records can also be shared in this network using blockchain-based electronic health record system.

Regulators from a range of countries have made statements about their view of ICOs, warning that they are highly speculative and in the US may run afoul of securities laws. China recently banned them saying that they were illegal fundraising.

With the heated interest in ICOs, scams and cybercrime associated with ICOs have grown at an equal pace. The scams range from the possibility of an entire ICO being a fraud to cybercriminals simply taking advantage of the excitement generated by ICOs to make targeted phishing attacks.

There is also a more basic risk that ICOs are highly speculative and may never result in a viable business, rendering the associated coins valueless. Traditional crowdfunding also carries this risk and so this should be well understood by people buying into both categories of schemes. It is also the case that buying shares in publicly listed companies also comes with risks as anyone who invested in Snap after its launch on the stock exchange and saw the value of their investment halve.

The future for ICOs

For companies that have incorporated a cryptocurrency into their business model, ICOs represent a novel way of crowdfunding that rewards investors if they succeed. This sets them apart from simply crowdfunding where the rewards are simply limited to a product or service in exchange for the money invested but is not tied to the success of the venture. It also means that the companies can stay private without the external pressures of the market or shareholders. Given that companies are increasingly trying to use shares with non-voting rights, the benefits of shares over self-issued cryptocurrencies become less apparent.

David Glance is director of the UWA Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia

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1 Comment

I CO’s certainly need some regulation and control but as with any new industry it’s the wild west out there! However If you do your due diligence- as much as possible- check out some sites that also investigate and comment, then if you believe they have a niche market or better technology, buy in small and be prepared to hold them. Sometimes it takes 2 years for them to be ready for their market, launch and start growing appreciably! There are many other opportunities that can grow your money within the industry,, just get learning!